New Delhi, Mar 08: EADS, Europe`s largest aerospace company,today said its CEO Rainer Hertrich will also lead the EADS aeronautics division from April one next after Dietrich Russell retires from the organization. The EADS board of directors has accepted the resignation of 62-year-old Russell, who has decided to quit for personal reasons. In addition to his current position as EADS CEO, Hertrich (54) will take up the responsibility with effect from April one, 2004, it said in a statement here.
The aeronautics division groups together is a portfolio of civil and military aviation-related businesses including helicopters (eurocopter), regional aircraft (ATR), general aviation aircraft (SOCATA) as well as aircraft maintenance and conversion, repair and overhaul and aerostructures (SOGERMA/EADS EFW).
Prior to his tenure at EADS, Russell was chief operating officer of airbus (1998 - 2000). He had joined Daimler-Benz aerospace AG (DASA) in 1995 as the member of the board of management responsible for aeronautics. He came from the Mannesmann group, where he started his career in 1972 and was first appointed a member of the board of Mannesmann Anlagenbau Ag in 1984. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2002, EADS generated revenues of 29.9 billion euros and employed a workforce of more than 100,000. The EADS group includes the aircraft manufacturer airbus, the world`s largest helicopter supplier eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the second largest missile producer in the global market. Bureau Report